[IP] more on Tazer at UCLA

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: November 17, 2006 10:48:01 AM EST
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Tazer at UCLA


Dave,

It is impossible to postulate, either based on the UCPD's own
statements or the available video, any reasonable basis for the use
of the Tazer in this situation.  There is no evidence that the
student -- who had a right to be in the library, and was only being
ejected for lack of complying with the "Achtung, show us your
papers!" demand, was a threat to anybody.  Witnesses suggest that
he was in the process of leaving when he was tasered.

I can't help but wonder if the student's reported Iranian background
was a contributing factor to this.  Would the UCPD have been as fast
to taser a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, female student who behaved in a
similarly non-violent fashion?

Many police agencies have become enamored of the tazer as a control
shortcut -- even using it on children in some well-documented
situations.  Tazer-induced deaths have been piling up and it's a
popular torture device around the world.

As a UCLA alumni myself, who remembers how the UCPD would overreact
even back when I was there in the '70s, my advice to current
UCLA students would be, "watch your back."

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com

 - - -

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Jacob Appelbaum <jacob@appelbaum.net>
> Date: November 16, 2006 6:48:18 PM EST
> To: dave@farber.net
> Cc: Joseph Lorenzo Hall <joehall@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Tazer at UCLA
>
> The media office apparently gave me an email address that bounced
> (chancellor.ponet@ucla.edu), so I've included a different one in this
> email.
>
> David Farber wrote:
> > Requested anonymity
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > For IP, what appears to be an outrageous use of a "tazer" against a
> > proposed UCLA student in Powell.
> >
> > YouTube Video clip:
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyvrqcxNIFs
> >
> > UCLA's response:
> > http://newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=7513
> >
> > Obviously a lot of unanswered questions here, but troubling none
> > the less.
>
>
> I called UCLA ( media relations office - +1-310-825-2585 ) and they
> pointed me to a press release by the police themselves:
> http://www.ucpd.ucla.edu/ucpd/zippdf/2006/Taser%2011-15-06.pdf
>
> When I voiced my concern about how the student was treated and that I
> felt the officers should be dismissed, I was informed that it would be
> prudent to write the UCLA chancellor (chancellor@conet.ucla.edu ).
>
> Regards,
> Jacob Appelbaum
>
>
>
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